Partisan comments reflect reactions to Bush talk

Dan Kulin

Wednesday, April 14, 2004 | 9:17 a.m.

Local reaction to President Bush's speech and news conference Tuesday night split along party lines, with Republicans saying the president delivered a strong reminder of the importance of the country "staying the course" in Iraq, while a leading Democrat described Bush's performance as weak and floundering.

"His message was very clear to the American people," Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said. "He's going to finish what we've started. You can't win this war on terrorism by being on the defensive, you have to be on the offensive."

But former Nevada Democratic congressman Jim Bilbray, co-chairman of Sen. John Kerry's Nevada presidential campaign, said he thought Bush's performance was "weak."

"He didn't really tell us anything new, just that he would stay the course and be there as long as it takes," Bilbray said.

Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., said he was glad Bush laid out the timeline for what he expects will happen in Iraq, starting with the June 30 turnover of power, drafting a constitution that will go before Iraqis in an October referendum, and then elections on Dec. 15, 2005.

"Tonight (Tuesday night) he was the commander-in-chief explaining the sequence of events," Porter said. "It was somber and sobering, but positive."

Steve Wark, a political consultant and former chairman of the Clark County Republican Party, also lauded the president's performance.

"I think it was a very concise explanation of exactly how they view the war on terror," Wark said. "We were reminded the war in Iraq is part of the war on terror and not an isolated event."

Wark said it was important for Bush to hold the news conference, which was in the middle of prime time on the East Coast, to combat the "political bent" of comment coming from Democrats on the 9-11 Commission.

Gibbons said it was important for the president to address Iraq before a national audience.

"This is the topic on every American's mind," he said.

But Gibbons criticized some of the questions posed to Bush.

"There was a political bias by some of the questioners. Like saying this is like Vietnam. This is nothing like Vietnam," Gibbons said.

Bush said it was wrong to compare the Vietnam War to the present-day situation in Iraq.

"That analogy sends the wrong message to our troops, and sends the wrong message to the enemy," the president said.

Bilbray, in Congress from 1987 to 1995, said that while Bush didn't like the comparison to Vietnam, "we are getting bogged down there."

Bilbray also said that while some of the questions may have had a political agenda behind them, "it was not a Kerry agenda."

"The reporters are there to ask tough questions, look at what they did to Bill Clinton," he said.

Bilbray said Bush had to go before the American public like he did because his popularity is dropping.

"He needed to do it politically," Bilbray said.

But the former congressman said the economy, more than Iraq, will probably be the major issue for now undecided voters when they go to the polls in November.

Wark gave a similar assessment.

In the end, most Americans will vote based on domestic issues such as economic prosperity and education, he said.

A spokesman for Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said the congresswoman wouldn't comment on the press conference because she didn't see it.

Representatives for Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., said the senators were not available to comment Tuesday night.